The Effect of Prebiotic Supplements on the Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Associated Health Parameters in Pigs

Abstract

Establishing a balanced and diverse microbiota in the GIT of pigs is crucial for optimizing health and performance throughout the production cycle. The post-weaning period is a critical phase, as it is often associated with dysbiosis, intestinal dysfunction and poor performance. Traditionally, intestinal dysfunctions associated with weaning have been alleviated using antibiotics and/or antimicrobials. However, increasing concerns regarding the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria has prompted an industry-wide drive towards identifying natural sustainable dietary alternatives. Modulating the microbiota through dietary intervention can improve animal health by increasing the production of health-promoting metabolites associated with the improved microbiota, while limiting the establishment and proliferation of pathogenic bacteria. Prebiotics are a class of bioactive compounds that resist digestion by gastrointestinal enzymes, but which can still be utilized by beneficial microbes within the GIT. Prebiotics are a substrate for these beneficial microbes and therefore enhance their proliferation and abundance, leading to the increased production of health-promoting metabolites and suppression of pathogenic proliferation in the GIT. There are a vast range of prebiotics, including carbohydrates such as non-digestible oligosaccharides, beta-glucans, resistant starch, and inulin. Furthermore, the definition of a prebiotic has recently expanded to include novel prebiotics such as peptides and amino acids. A novel class of -biotics, referred to as “stimbiotics”, was recently suggested. This bioactive group has microbiota-modulating capabilities and promotes increases in short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production in a disproportionally greater manner than if they were merely substrates for bacterial fermentation. The aim of this review is to characterize the different prebiotics, detail the current understating of stimbiotics, and outline how supplementation to pigs at different stages of development and production can potentially modulate the GIT microbiota and subsequently improve the health and performance of animals.

The Effect of Maternal Probiotic or Synbiotic Supplementation on Sow and Offspring Gastrointestinal Microbiota, Health, and Performance

“…Prebiotics consist of a broad range of substrates and have been used to varying degrees of success in pigs (as reviewed in [307]). Here, the focus is to discuss the potential role of synbiotics in the maternal sow diet and briefly detail some additional benefits of the inclusion of a prebiotic in combination with probiotics in the maternal sow diet.…”

“…For growth, certain Bifidobacterium strains require cysteine [323], and certain Lactobacillus strains require arginine, lysine, and glutamic acid [324,325]. The role of amino acids as a potential prebiotics is discussed in [307].…”

“…Alternative novel prebiotics, such as nucleotides, may also present as intriguing components in synbiotic preparations for future explorations [307,333]. Although, in a recent study in calves, the supplementation of a combination of Bacillus probiotics and nucleotides in milk replacer had no synergistic impact on the growth, health or on faecal bacteria counts of Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Escherichia coli, or Clostridium perfringens [334].…”

Carbon Footprint of the Pork Product Chain and Recent Advancements in Mitigation Strategies

“…The application of functional nutritional regulation techniques to improve feed conversion efficiency is key to reducing GHG emissions in the pig industry. Antimicrobial peptides, plant extracts, and functional substances can enhance the health and growth performance of pig herds [62][63][64][65], thereby strengthening immune function, reducing disease-related losses, and indirectly reducing the use of immunological healthcare products, thus lowering carbon emissions associated with their application.…”